Whatever Will Be
by MichPotter
Summary: Ginny has a new boyfriend...everyone seems to know who it is except Harry and Ron, and what does her boyfriend have that Harry wants? Rated T just to be safe
1. Under The Infulence

**Chapter 1**

Flipping through the pages of her wedding album, Hermione smiled as she came across what would have to be her favourite memory of the day. It was a photograph of Harry and Ron, covered in wedding cake, hugging their respective partners, Hermione and Luna, both of who were squirming away from the chocolate-covered embraces of their men. Seeing her, the figures in the picture looked up and waved, their eyes shining with laughter.

That was 3 years ago, and now, at 24, Hermione had all she had ever wanted from life; a husband she loved, a beautiful home and a steady, well-paid job running her own bookshop and tutoring business in Diagon Alley. Life was good, and she had everything under control.

Hearing the front door unlock, she slid the photo album back into its case and placed it back underneath the coffee table. She stood up, straightened her pink silk shirt and went to greet her husband. As Harry turned to hang up his coat he was ambushed from behind, a pair of small hands gripping his waist. With a laugh he grabbed Hermione's slender wrists and pulled her around to face him. They shared a chaste kiss before heading into the kitchen where the soup Hermione had prepared earlier was stirring itself.

"How was your day, Honey?" Hermione asked as she collected two bowls from the cupboard above her head.

"Not bad," Harry replied, "Moody came in to speak to some of the younger Aurors. He's planning on retiring in a few years, you know."

Hermione arched her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? The Ministry will need someone good to replace him." She turned and winked at Harry, "Other than you of course!"

Harry grinned back. "Tonks is really great too, she headed off to Serbia last week to speak to the Wizard's Confederation there. Got me out of a tight spot, I was the one meant to go!"

"But you'd've missed out anniversary!" Hermione exclaimed, knowing full well why Tonks had volunteered. "It was great of Tonks to do that."

"Tell me about it." he sighed "I wouldn't miss our anniversary for the world, you know that"

"So, any tips on what you're getting me?" Hermione hinted.

"None at all" he replied slyly.

None of Hermione's protesting came to fruition, and the next few minutes were spent with the two of them bartering over anniversary hints, however neither of the two gave anything away.

"Please?" Hermione asked, fed up with her forceful jokes not working, put on a puppy dog face, and stared into Harry's startling green eyes.

"No! And all that is going to do is get us into the bedroom"

"I swear, sometimes you have a one track mind Harry Potter!" Hermione said with mock agitation.

"I do not thank you very much!" Harry protested, still in jest.

"How do think we got our nickname "Rabbit" then?"

"Hey! It's not just my fault! If you weren't so tempting, we wouldn't end up in bed all the time!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" Hermione joked, "Well, looks like you're sleeping on the sofa tonight then!"

"I mean, it's not ALL your fault, I mean I could keep my hands to myself and be a good boy" Harry apologised, and at the same time taunted Hermione.

"I was joking, you git" Hermione laughed.

Harry blushed beet red, "I knew that, I was... just playing along with it"

"Sure, sure Mr. Denial!"

"I am not in denial!" Harry exclaimed, an expression of false shock on his face.

"Sure, sure!" Hermione submitted. "Just eat your soup, Ginny and that..." Hermione paused as if to think of her next words, "...muggle boyfriend of hers are coming round tonight, and I want to clean this place before he gets here. I'm not sure if Ginny's told him about being a witch yet."

"When was this arranged?" Harry asked. He had been looking forward to a night alone with his wife. Work had been so hectic they hardly saw each other for long periods of time.

"Ginny phoned around 10 for a chat and I invited them over for drinks tonight." Hermione explained to him. But the truth as Ginny had confided in Hermione was that she was now dating Draco Malfoy, and was going to bring him around to tell Harry that he was not on the bad side anymore. Secretly Hermione thought this was going to be more difficult for Ginny than Draco.

"That was nice of you," Harry said flatly. "I have a feeling that I won't like Gin's new boyfriend though"

"You can, and will, learn to like him," Hermione ordered, "because it will make Ginny happy, and we all know that Ginny needs some happiness in her life right now, especially after her last break up."

"Of course, I mean, it can't be _that_ hard to learn to like this guy, can it?" Harry said, waving his wand to clear his plate and begin cleaning the kitchen. "See, I even started the cleaning for you!"

"Thank you sweetheart, and now, can you please run down to the store and grab a carton of butterbeer, a case of beer, some cheese and crackers and a bottle of red wine" Hermione asked, grabbing some Muggle money from her purse and handing it to Harry.

"Sure," Harry replied, and gave Hermione a swift kiss on the cheek before striding out the door.

Hermione set about preparing boards with cheeses, biscuits and dips. While the cheese unwrapped itself and the biscuits arranged themselves on the platter, she sent glasses and a tablecloth flying over to where they would be sitting, and arranged them with a flick of her wand. She heard Harry's updated Ford Anglia pull out of the driveway and cruise down the street. Knowing her husband was gone, she walked over to the fireplace, picked up a handful of glittering green powder and threw it into the flames, clearly enunciating the words, "Number 12, Grimmauld Place". She then promptly thrust her head into the whirling flames.

At the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Albus Dumbledore was interrogating the newest member of the resistance against Voldemort. The man slumped in a chair, obviously under the influence of Veritaserum, looked up to Dumbledore from underneath is fringe of straight, blonde hair and said, "I promise you, my father is dead. Killed by his own kinsmen, the other death eaters turned on him. I witnessed it all, huddled in a cupboard in my own family's home, at the end of my 7th year at Hogwarts. I wasn't supposed to be there, it was a secret meeting, and I wanted to eavesdrop, my father thought I wasn't smart enough to work first hand with death eaters. I wanted to prove him wrong. But first I had to learn how he worked, so I could copy him. As I watched, the death eaters pounced on him, all four of them. One disarming him, another silencing his cries, one summoning the papers he had in his possession out from under his fingertips, and the fourth... I remember closing my eyes and turning away, but even from underneath my eyelids I saw the flash of green. I never climbed out of the cupboard for hours. I only emerged when I heard my mother enter the room and scream. The death eaters told me, later, that my father had gone into hiding. But I knew the truth. That's why I want to join you."

Dumbledore appeared satisfied. At that moment the fireplace behind him sparked green and a head of bushy hair appeared. "Hello Professor!" Hermione smiled in greeting. "Can't stay long, just wondering if you'd..." she broke off, "...finished with Malfoy." Seeing Ginny's boyfriend slumped in a chair, she blushed. "Obviously not, sorry." Hermione apologised. "I didn't know you were using Veritaserum though."

"It was necessary," Dumbledore explained. "We can never be sure about the loyalties of those who change sides." Hermione's thoughts flashed to a certain Professor of whom she had thought the exact same thing.

At that moment, a tall, slim woman walked into the room, her Quidditch robes still on and her red hair windswept. "Hey Professor, Hermione, Draco!" She leant down and planted a kiss on Draco's blonde head.

"I love you Ginny, marry me?" Draco said.

Ginny stoped flustered. "Umm..." she looked at Hermione and at Dumbledore for an explanation of Draco's excessively free behaviour.

"He is simply under the influence of Veritaserum," Dumbledore explained cheerfully. "Nothing to worry about!" Ginny, however, was not worried, just happy. If Draco was speaking the truth, and he had to be, then he really did love her!

Reading the smile on Ginny's face, Hermione decided to withdraw from the scene. "See you at seven!" she called to Ginny, and pulled her head back into her own home.


	2. Want for Some Cufflinks

**Chapter 2  
**  
Harry walked through the door only seconds after Hermione had pulled out of the fire.

"Hermione, where are you?" he called from the kitchen as he placed the case of drinks on the table.

"I'm just in the bedroom changing, I'll be out in a second!" she called back to him, quickly brushing a few stray ashes back into the fireplace. She then turned to the mirror and began to muss up her hair and spread some mascara along her eyelashes with her wand.

She had gotten a whole heap of make-up spells from 'Witch Weekly', and since then had hardly bought a muggle cosmetic product.  
"Rosincto" she plainly said, and a rosy glow covered her cheeks.  
"Alanta" she gained shimmery pink eyes, and  
"Phosphore," her lips took on a healthy, glossy glow.  
As Harry walked into the room she transfigured her sensible slacks into a flowing hippie skirt and twirled to meet him.

"Well hello, Sunshine!" Harry laughed as he held Hermione's waist  
She poked his nose with her wand, turning it momentarily orange, then tucked her wand back into the top of her skirt.  
Harry reached for his own wand to retaliate, when he saw it in Hermione's hand. "You always were better at non-verbal spells!"

Hermione looked at him mockingly. "That wasn't a spell Harry; I took it from your pocket about 4 minutes ago."

With a wink he put both his arms around Hermione and took his wand back. She giggled and he lifted her up onto his shoulder and spun around, laughing.

Abruptly, the doorbell rang, and Harry put his wife down and called, "Coming!" as he opened the oak door, only to find Ron standing outside.

"Ron? What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, puzzled by the appearance of her best friend.

"I need to talk to you about my sister Hermione" he said in a decidedly forced tone.

"Ron? What's all this about?" Harry asked, looking as well as sounding extremely puzzled. "Hermione?"

"You'll find out later honey!" Hermione said with a strangled smile as she led Ron into their living room and sealed the door with a silencing charm.

"Why is Ginny so damn happy? She is prancing round the bloody house without a care in the world! And when I asked her why she was so happy all she could do is say your sodding name and I want to know why!" Ron said all this in one breath, in a deadly calm voice.

"Look, Ron, nobody is suppose to know this except me, so you cant tell anyone!" Hermione warned him, "but Ginny is not dating a Muggle, in fact she's not even dating a half-blood." Here Hermione paused as if unsure about what she was about to say. 'She's... she's dating Draco."

"Draco!" Ron exploded, "as in Malfoy? I'll kill him for putting his nasty little paws on my sister! Who does he think he is anyway?"

"RON!" Hermione shouted at her friend, "calm down alright!"

"NO! That bloody prat is going out with my sister!" he shouted back "How can you are telling me to calm down?"

"RON! Listen to me!" she said in a forced calm voice "I was at headquarters before, and he was under the influence of Veritaserum, and he said that he was in love with Ginny, and I can't see him hurting her if he says he loves her!" Hermione explained to her fuming friend, again, all in one breath.

Resigned, Ron flopped onto the couch. "How long have you known about them?"

"Since he asked her about a month or two ago" she said, waiting for him to explode in her face again, but he didn't.

"Why didn't she tell me? I'm her sodding brother and she can't tell me that she's going out with sodding Malfoy?" he said to no one in particular.

There was a loud pounding from outside which meant that Harry had taken the silencing charm off the door.

"Hermione, come on, it's getting late and Ginny will be here soon!" he shouted through the door.

"Ginny's coming over tonight?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, and she's bringing Draco, so you better go before they get here or you will tear Draco's' head off."

She walked to the door and swung it open, to find Harry sitting on the couch with his face in his hands. He looked up at the pair.

"What's going on?" he asked them suspiciously.

"Nothing honey, you'll find out soon" Hermione reassured him with a, somewhat false, smile.

"Sooner then you think, as well" Ron muttered under his breath.

"What's that suppose to mean Ron?" Harry questioned.

"Don't worry, I got to go, see you guys later" Ron said and with that he apparated out.

"Bloody hell! What is that man on about Hermione?"

"I wouldn't worry about him Harry, you know what Ron is like, always worried about some thing or another. Anyway, can you get the butterbeer and wine out please and set them on the table with some glasses."

"I suppose," he replied with a sigh and went to the task his wife had set him.

Just as Harry had finished laying the drinks and glasses on the table, the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" Hermione called out as she rushed to welcome her guests.

"Ginny! Come on in and have a seat!" she said as she saw the young redheaded woman and her beau standing at the door. She closed the door behind them, Hermione was thankful that Harry had gone into the bedroom to change when the pair entered and took their seats. Ginny was still glowing with happiness after the recent events of the day, and her and Draco, if it was possible, seemed even closer.

"So Ginny, how was your day?" Hermione asked the redhead with a smile.

"Fantastic," she said, knowing Hermione would know why. "How about you?"

"Fine, although your brother paid me a visit about half and hour ago, wanting to know why you were so damn happy. Now please don't get mad, but Ginny, I had to tell him about you both, otherwise he would have thought something was up." Hermione rushed out, and instead of yelling and screaming at Hermione, Ginny laughed instead.

"I said your name because I knew that Ron would come here and ask you what it was all about, and I knew that you would tell him." Ginny smirked knowing her plan to avoid her brother's rage had worked. 

With raised eyebrows, Hermione continued the conversation. "And how are you Draco?"

"Still recovering from that Veritaserum, but I'm sure it will wear off soon" he replied. This was certainly not the Draco Malfoy that Hermione had known in her Hogwarts days.

As Hermione was opening the butterbeer and wine, Harry stepped out of the bedroom and came face to face with Draco. There was a pause, and Harry abruptly said, "Forgot my cufflinks, I'll just get them." Before turning and walking straight back into the bedroom. He didn't seem to realise he was wearing a t-shirt.

"Hermione dear," Harry's voice floated back into the room. "Could you help me have a look for those cufflinks?"

Hermione sighed and walked into the bedroom she shared with Harry. He looked up at her from his seat on the queen-sized bed. "What is Draco sodding Malfoy doing in our sitting room?" he said through clenched teeth. "Look Harry, I know that this is probably not the best way to tell you this but Ginny and Draco are dating, that's why Ron came around before, because Ginny was on a high because when she was a Headquarters before, Draco was under the influence of Veritaserum, and he said that he was in love with her and wanted to marry her, and look, don't go getting mad with Ginny about this, because she is happy with Draco and he treats her well and everything, so there is really no harm being done here Harry." Hermione explained in one breath. "Now, you will go out there and be nice to Draco and at least act like you want him to be there. And if you are... there might be a reward." Hermione said with a sly look on her face.

"Promise?" Harry asked with puppy dog eyes.

Hermione sighed. "Promise"

"Thank you" Harry smiled, opened the door of the bedroom and waltzed out into the sitting room.


End file.
